Soul Meets Body
by Romantic Puck
Summary: When a cloak of darkness descends on the Ministry, it's up to our favorite clumsy auror to try to set things right.


**Title: _"Soul Meets Body"_**  
**Author:** Romanticpuck (writingpuck on LJ)  
**Theme:** #22. Shadow; Flame; Footfall; Ouch!  
**Pairing/Characters: **Percy Weasley/Nymphadora Tonks  
**Rating:** PG-13 (violence, adult language)  
**Disclaimer:** The real Harry Potter series doesn't have nearly enough Percy/Tonks in it, so clearly I didn't write it. The title's named after a Death Cab for Cutie song, and I don't own that either.  
_**Summary:** When a cloak of darkness descends on the Ministry, it's up to a pink haired auror to try to set things right._

**Author's Note: **This was started for the LJ challenge community 30romances. The link to the rest of my challenges can be found on my user page. Let me know what you think!

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Screams and shouts were coming from every direction, and a good percent of them, Nymphadora decided, had to be her own. 'If I bump into one more bloody chair,' she cursed herself, hating the clumsiness she'd been born with.

The Ministry of Magic had been bathed in darkness for only about four minutes, but with the Death Eater raids and recent threats on the lives of several Ministry Officials, it had seemed like hours.

For a few minutes after the world grew dark, everyone was shouting about some weird drill. She'd heard Kingsley muttering about how the memo system was blinking useless if they weren't even going to get one out about the renewal of the light spells.

But all Tonks could think of was the Ministry raid she'd been involved in years ago. They'd souped up security since then, sure, but what if it wasn't enough? She'd stood and was the first auror to begin shouting instructions.

Kingsley and his team were in charge of keeping the officials safe while they fled the building, while Tonks and a few others (Ginevra, namely) were supposed to be checking the premises for the cause of the blackout.

Neither group seemed to be doing well. The officials were too panicked to listen, and Nymphadora couldn't walk three feet into the dark without getting a wand in the gut from a passer-by, or falling over a stapler.

"OUCH!" A loud voice called out, which was preceded by a wham into Nymphadora, and then a screech that sounded like a desk being shoved aside.

"To hell with this," Tonks muttered in annoyance, rubbing her head where she'd collided with the shouting person and his metal _something_. Her hand was wet when she pulled it away. 'Great. Bleeding already and I haven't even roughed someone up. Course, that bloke might be a Death Eater…'

"Lumos," Tonks said softly, allowing a pale flame to spurt from her wand. She'd been afraid of giving up her cover before, but the pink-haired auror realized that the darkness wasn't doing anything to help her, anyways.

She stared down at the sprawled out form of Percy Weasley, the senior assistant to the Minister of Magic. He'd been promoted after recent Death Eater raids had knocked out several of his predecessors, and had given Tonks hell ever since. She took a strange amount of smug satisfaction from seeing the uptight redhead trying to pull himself up with dignity. He glanced up, and upon seeing her, scurried to get up quicker.

"Nymphadora," he began. She winced…he never called her by her surname, no matter how regularly she asked. "I'm presuming you have the culprits apprehended."

'Excuse me? Who does he think we are? Superheros?' "No, but since you just came from that way," she gestured back towards the Minister's Offices, "I'm probably going in the wrong direction."

For a few minutes Percy stared at her in confusion. "Nobody else came back there?" There was a tightness to his voice that hadn't been there before.

"If they did, nobody told me." Something about his paleness, even in the dim light, forced her to inhale shale, blink out the light, and stand at the ready. "Why?"

Tonks reached forward with her hand and dragged him closer with as much force as she could without knocking something or someone over.

"My wand," he snapped, hands groping her as he seemed to turn in the dark and begin whamming around for the desk.

_"What happened?" _Tonks growled, kicking him as she shuffled forward and hearing an oomph as he stood and slammed into her side.

"The Minister." Clearly this was for her ears only. In any other circumstance his warmth and the breath on her ear might have shot her with fire. As it was, fear made the auror shake instead.

"Merlin be damned Percy, I swear…"

The redhead inhaled sharply, and Tonks could almost see him fighting the urge to correct her language. Instead, he said, "Someone came in. It was dark, you know, and I wasn't exactly-"

"Percy!"

"They came in and said they would escort the Minister out themselves."

"_Who_ came in?"

"I hardly have time to keep track of all the auror's that the Ministry employs…"

Tonks figured it was his uptight way of saying he didn't know, and instead of hitting him walked until she was alongside him, wand out. She placed her finger on his lips, and listened intently.

A bang up ahead, and she was sprinting off, Percy trailing in her arms grasp behind her.

"Crucio!"

A green light flashed right past their heads, and for a brief second Tonks was glad that the darkness wasn't a great idea for the intruders, either. "AVADRA-"

"Expelliarmus!" Tonks interrupted, aiming behind her, a lucky shot that sent the wand flying from it's user.

"Lumos," Percy was intoning at the same time. The cloaked figure was stumbling for their wand, when Tonks managed to body bind him.

Her redheaded partner was already racing past her towards the Minister's chambers. She followed his bobbing light, screeching to a halt as Percy whinied in horror. "Shut UP!" Tonks hushed, not wanting to bring any more attention on them.

Lying dead on the ground was the Minister of Magic. A quick check told Tonks that the intruder's hadn't had as bad of aim when it came to offing the Minister. A stone dropped in her chest as she realized she was in charge of keeping the next in line safe to the temporary title of Minister safe.

"Let's go," she shouted, grabbing Weasley's arm. The redhead didn't flinch. It was like he was stuck to the floor. "Come on!"

It was like trying to convince an owl to send out some post if it didn't want to. Shouts and growls were heard from behind them, and it only took a cursory glance for Nymphadora to see that it _wasn't _reinforcements.

Breath spiking into her, she grabbed Percy in a full body bind and Disapparated just as someone from behind shouted "Crucio," hitting the redhead's shoulder dead on.

_((End Part One))_

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**Author's Note: **Something about Percy/Tonks seems to require lots of space in order for me to feel happy. Thus, a chaptered fic. Let me know what you think! Flames will be used to keep my computer running! 


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